It is generally accepted that, overall, the best archers in the world are
from Korea. In fact, of the top one hundred men archers (modern style,
1992), almost thirty were Korean, and of the women the number was almost
sixty.

Why are the Koreans so dominant? I am no expert (I've always been told
an 'expert' is a "drip under pressure"), but I have been involved with
Korea and Korean traditional archery long enough to see that archery is
part of the very spirit of the country and its people. First, we should
look at Korean archery from a historical viewpoint.

Korea had, without interruption, archery for thousands of years. The bow
was primarily a military weapon, used to help unify the peninsula over
1,300 years ago, and later to repel Japanese invaders in the late
sixteenth century. Even during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945),
archery was a popular athletic event. Today it is enjoyed by thousands of
Korean men and women.

BOWS
There are two types of bows used in Korean traditional archery. The first
type is the modern laminated bow. Draw weights vary, starting at about
forty pounds. The bow is about 46-50 inches long. Most have one inner
layer of carbon, while others have two for a higher cast. The full-draw
length of most bows is more than thirty-one inches, with the anchor point
being about even with the shoulder.

The second type of bow is the traditional Korean composite horn bow. It
is made of several materials. The core is bamboo, which is sinew backed,
with oak at the handle. On the belly is waterbuffalo horn. The outer ends
of the limbs are made of either mulberry or acacia spliced (v- splice) onto
the bamboo. The glue is made from fish air-bladder. Over the sinew
backing is a special birch bark that is imported from Northeast China. It
is soaked in sea water (I understand for one year). It is applied to the
back using diluted rubber cement (using benzene as the solvent).

The draw weights vary, but most are above fifty pounds. The cost for this
type of bow is in the $500+ range. For the laminated bow, the cost is
$100+. For most competitions, either bow may be used (bare bow only), but
for national competitions, only the composite bow may be used.

ARROWS
As with the bows, there are two types of arrows available. One is a carbon
type. It can most often be seen at wet-weather competitions. The other,
more common type, is the bamboo arrow. The cost of each arrow is about
$10. The fletcher can make about ten arrows per day.

Most of the arrow's body is made of bamboo, which the fletcher finds and
cuts himself. The point is made of machined brass. The fletching comes
from pheasants, and the nock from bush clover. The nock is secured with
sinew and both nock and fletching are held on with fish air-bladder glue.
In national competitions, only the bamboo arrow may be used. All bamboo
arrows are custom- made. There are only ten traditional bowyers and twelve
traditional fletchers in Korea (one of each is a friend of mine).

THUMB RING
Koreans use what some people might call the "Mongolian Draw," which uses
the thumb and index finger to draw the string. This is different from the
more familiar "Mediterranean Draw," which uses the first three fingers.
A device (similar in use, but not in appearance, to a finger tab) is used,
called a GAHK JEE in Korean, to hold the string. It is a teardrop-shaped
thumb ring. It was traditionally made from ox horn, but today they will
often be made out of plastic (from pool balls, usually).

BOW COVER
A long cloth bag will cover the unstrung bow. This bag serves two
purposes: bow cover and sash. When the bow is taken from its cover, the
cover is wrapped around the archer's waist and tied. Arrows are twisted
in the sash (points in, feathers pointing to the front). Only five arrows
at a time are allowed.

ARROW CASE
Arrows are usually stored in the club house, in a temperature controlled
box. However, when transporting arrows from one place to another (such as
to and from meets), the Korean equivalent of a quiver is used. It is a
tube, usually intricately detailed, made from one of several materials,
such as bamboo, wood, or paper. Hand made, finely detailed cases, called
JUN TONG in Korean, can cost as much as $500. However, many people will
either borrow a case or improvise.

ARCHERY GROUNDS
The central point of the archery grounds is the pavilion hall, called a
JUNG in Korean. However, not all jungs will actually have a building;
sometimes it may be in name only. Whether or not there is a building,
there will always be a sign, written with the Chinese characters JUNG
GAHN (literally, 'Righteous Room'). Jung Gahn has various, interpreted
meanings, depending on where in Korea you may live. One meaning might be
that you will always be upright and righteous inside yourself. Another
might mean to always have God within you. In any event, an archer will
always give a slight bow to the Jung Gahn when he/she first arrives at
the jung.

The shooting line will vary from jung to jung. One jung may have three
targets with eight positions for each, while another may have only two
targets with five to seven positions for each. Each position will be
roughly one square meter (yard).

The targets (made of plywood, covered with hard rubber from an old conveyor
belt) are located 145 meters (about 159 yards) away from the shooting line.
The target is 2.67 meters high (2.9 yards) and 2 meters wide (2.2 yards).
It is tilted 15 degrees back.

ETIQUETTE
As I stated earlier, an archer will bow to the Jung Gahn when first
arriving at the jung. Also, just before an archer makes a first shot,
he/she will give a slight bow to the target saying "Hwal bae oom ni da,"
which means, "I am learning the bow." If other members are present, they
would reply, "Ma ni ma chu sayo", which means, "Have many hits." A novice
archer would also bow to the target after the first hit of the day, while
advanced archers would not.

During the first end of shooting, the order would go from left to right,
and alternate at the next end. An end is when the first archer shoots one
arrow, then the second archer shoots one arrow, etc., until each archer has
shot five arrows.

In Korean archery, formality is everything. An archer will not go to
practice in old, dirty clothing, but will wear clean, nice clothes. The
reason being, if you look unclean, your mind will be unclean, but if you
look organized, that is how your mind will be. As in all types of archery,
mental attitude is very important. One very important precept in Korean
archery is JUNG SHIM JUNG GI. It means "Straight Mind Straight Body." If
you don't have this, your shooting will probably be off.

For competitions, archers will wear white shirts, white pants and white
athletic shoes. The shirt is usually of the polo style. The pants will
usually be a comfortable cotton or blend.

One thing many foreigners have noticed is the absence of bow hunting in
Korea. I wondered about that too, at first. While the Koreans very
effectively used their bows in war in the past, their traditional teachings
(primarily from Buddhism) discourage the use of the bow for killing. It is
interesting to note, however, some of these same people will very happily
take up a gun during hunting season (it should also be noted that Korea has
strict gun control laws). With the bow, however, they feel there would be
a "loss of balance" if they were to use it for hunting. But they are still
very interested in American traditional archery, especially regarding
hunting and Native American style (as they consider themselves kin to the
first inhabitants of America).

PROCEDURE
Handling the Korean bow is almost the same as any other with the exceptions
of the way of holding the string, and the side of the bow where the arrow is.
As mentioned earlier, the string is held with the thumb and index finger (in
a position like you were going to flip a coin); the arrow rests just above
the thumb. If you are right-handed, the arrow is on the right side of the
bow, and if left- handed, on the left side. The bow is generally slightly
canted to the arrow side.

The stance is roughly at the two o'clock (ten o'clock for lefties) position,
with legs shoulder-width apart. The draw is past the standard anchor point,
all the way even with your thumb ring-hand shoulder. Shooting angle will
depend a lot on the cast of your bow. Some archers may shoot at a 45-degree
angle above horizontal, while others may have a more flat trajectory.

Scoring is simple. If you hit the target and your arrow did not break the
plane of (go past) the target, it's a hit. At competitions, there will be
a target judge with a flag to show what the arrow did. A circular motion
shows a hit, straight up means the arrow went long, straight down means it
went short, etc. There are both individual and team events at competitions.
A round will be made up of three ends of five arrows for the individual
event. The team event is decided by elimination (quarter-finals,
semifinals, finals), with one end of five arrows for each team member in
each event.

RANKING
When a novice archer makes his/her first hit ever, he/she will usually buy
all the other members some refreshments. For the next three levels (two,
three, four hits out of five), members would congratulate the archer.
However, when an archer has a perfect end of five out of five, a semiofficial
honor is bestowed upon him/her.

MOHLGI
A perfect end of five out of five is called a MOHLGI in Korean. When you
reach this level (make sure you have witnesses!) you are called a JUB
JAHNG, which roughly means "ace." The time and date of this event should
be noted (coincidentally, I achieved this level on one of the anniversaries
of Ishi's* death--March 25).

The other members will give an elaborate, but short, ceremony, usually
during the following monthly meeting. You will receive your MUHO, or your
"MARTIAL PEN NAME." Usually it is picked by the director of your jung, and
it should describe something about you or your background. For instance,
my muho is CHUNG HO. Chung means 'blue' and Ho means 'lake'. As my home
state is Michigan, the director of my jung found this to be a suitable name.

OFFICIAL RANKING
Several times each year, special competitions are held to decide members'
official rankings. The ranking system is similar to that in taekwondo, as
DON levels are used. Each member will have a total of 45 arrows to shoot
(nine ends of five arrows). The first don will start at 25 hits, the next
will is 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 37, and the top, ninth don, is 39 arrows
(a separate competition is held for each level, and only two levels may be
reached per year). There are only two people in the world who are at the
top level (one lives in the USA). A close friend of mine (and my mentor)
from my jung, Mr. Bak Dong Sub, is the top shooter from my jung; his ranking
is fifth don, a special level called MYUNG GOONG, roughly translated as
"famous name archer." Each don is represented by the MOOGOONGHWA flower,
known in English as the ROSE OF SHARON. Whenever a member reaches a don
level, he/she will be presented with a bow cover, with the flowers
embroidered on.

EPILOGUE
When I first joined the archery association here in Korea, I became, as far
as I know, the only non-Korean member. With this distinction also comes
responsibility.

The hope of Korean members is that Korean traditional archery will be
propagated to other countries, most notably the United States. When I
joined, their stated hope was that I would introduce this style of archery
to America. Very happily I am doing so.

As the details of this sport are too numerous to mention in this article,
I am preparing a book and video on the subject. The book will cover
everything I have stated here (in greater detail), and will have many areas
not covered, including detailed discussions on the manufacture of the
Korean horn bow and bamboo arrows.

I would like to thank all the members of my jung, HO RIM JUNG (Tiger Forest
Pavilion) for their enthusiasm and support.

This is a section of the FAQ for alt.archery.
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trier@pilot.msu.edu
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